Tampa Electric Company has asked state regulators to approve a proposed agreement that would largely freeze base rates though 2021 and help lead to an expansion of solar energy.
The chair of the state’s Public Service Commission, which regulates investor-owned utilities, says her board also has started “thinking” about how it can help get power back on quicker after major storms. Julie I. Brown released a statement Wednesday morning, more than a week after Hurricane Irma knocked out electricity to millions of Florida homes and businesses:
Ritch Workman is headed back to Tallahassee. The former state representative, a Melbourne Republican, was appointed Friday night by Gov. Rick Scott to serve on the Florida Public Service Commission. Workman replaces Ronald Brisé, who had sought a third term on the board. Scott also re-appointed Art Graham to the commission and filled the seat left open by the departure of Jimmy Patronis with Gary Clark, the Department of Environment Protection‘s deputy secretary of land and recreation.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis has told his hometown television station he will decide “in the next 30 days” whether to run for a full term in 2018. Patronis, a former state representative, stepped down from the Public Service Commission (PSC) when Gov. Rick Scott appointed him two months ago to serve the remainder of former CFO Jeff Atwater‘s second term. Atwater left early to become the CFO of Florida Atlantic University.
Duke Energy announced Tuesday it had filed a settlement agreement with the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC). The good news: Rates won’t be increasing as expected. “This settlement has broad support and was developed collaboratively with the Office of Public Counsel and other consumer advocates, including the Florida Industrial Power Users Group, White Springs Agricultural Chemicals, Inc., d/b/a PCS Phosphate, Florida Retail Federation and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy,” the company said in a press release. “If approved by the…
Art Graham and Ronald Brisé on Thursday won nominations to be returned to their seats on the Public Service Commission, which regulates investor-owned utilities in the state. If selected, both men would serve third terms; each was first appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist in 2010.
Former lawmakers Greg Evers, Rich Glorioso, and Ritch Workman and current Rep. Tom Goodson have been selected to be interviewed to replace Jimmy Patronis on the Florida Public Service Commission. Another noteworthy applicant, former state Comptroller and retired Marine general Bob Milligan, was shut out of the process, receiving no votes from the Public Service Commission Nominating Council, which met Wednesday in Tampa.